The German Confederation (
German: Deutscher Bund) was an association of 39 German
states in
Central Europe, created by the
Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking
countries and to replace the former
Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806.[1] Most
historians have judged the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state.[2]

The Confederation collapsed due to
the rivalry between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire, warfare in the several European revolutions of 1848,
the 1848–1849 German revolution, and the inability of the multiple members to compromise. In 1848, revolutions by
liberals and
nationalists were a failed attempt to establish a unified German state with a progressive liberal constitution under the
Frankfurt Convention. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the Confederation briefly dissolved, but was re-established shortly after, in 1850.[3]

The Confederation fell apart after the Prussian victory in the
Seven Weeks' War over Austria in 1866. The dispute over which had the inherent right to rule German lands ended in favour of Prussia, leading to the creation of the
North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867. A number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed and proclaimed as the "
German Empire" in 1871 for the now unified
Germany with the Prussian king as emperor (Kaiser) after the victory over French Emperor
Napoleon III in the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

Establishment

The Confederation was formally created by a second treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation. This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820. States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty. The states designated for inclusion in the Confederation in the 1815 treaty were:[4]

In 1839, as compensation for the loss of the
Luxemburg to Belgium, the
Duchy of Limburg (held by the Netherlands) was created and it was a member of the German Confederation until its dissolution in 1866. The city of Maastricht was not included in the Confederation.

Dissolution and Empire

The German Confederation ended as a result of the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between
Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the
Kingdom of Prussia and its allies on the other. In the
Prague peace treaty, on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was considered to be dissolved.[5] The following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new Bundesverhältnis (a new kind of federation) in the North of Germany. The South German states were proposed to create a South German Confederation but this did not come into existence.

Prussia and its allies created the
North German Confederation in 1867. Because of French intervention it had to exclude, besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt. During November 1870, the four southern states joined the North German Confederation by treaty.[6]